Florida Panthers vs. Carolina Hurricanes Game 1 Prediction, Odds
The Hurricanes are -125 favourites on the NHL odds for Tuesday’s opener with a total of 5.5 goals.
Panthers vs. Hurricanes Conference Finals Betting Odds
With the conference finals round of the Stanley Cup playoffs starting tonight from Raleigh, Edmonton is the +240 favourite to hoist the Cup, followed by defending champion Florida at +250, Dallas at +275 and Carolina +300. To win the East, the Panthers are -125 and the Hurricanes +105.
The series line is the same as the price to win the East. That it goes the full seven games is the +190 favourite, but Florida in six is the +400 leader followed by Carolina in seven at +475 – and that would be my lean. On some player props, the Hurricanes’ Seth Jarvis is the +170 favourite to score at least two goals in any game, followed by the Panthers’ Sam Reinhart at +175.
Those two and Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov are all co-favourites at +1800 to have a hat trick in the series. I highly doubt that happens as this is shaping up as a rugged, low-scoring series. The Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky is -125 to record at least 20 saves in each game, and the Canes’ Frederik Andersen is +525 for the same. Such a great price because Carolina doesn’t allow many shots on goal.
Florida won two of the three regular-season meetings and outscored Carolina 13-6 – but Andersen didn’t play in any. Bobrovsky split his two starts. The lone playoff meeting between the franchises was the 2023 East Finals won by the Panthers but every game by one goal.
Florida Panthers
Florida added to the Maple Leafs’ woes in Game 7s with a stunningly easy 6-1 win at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday night to reach a third straight East Finals. Leafs killer Brad Marchand, formerly of Boston, was at it again with a goal and two assists to improve to 5-0 career in Games 7s vs. Toronto. The 37-year-old became the first player in NHL history to defeat one franchise in at least five winner-take-all games. Sergei Bobrovsky became the 10th goaltender in league history to win each of his first three career Game 7s. The Russian wasn’t great the first three games of the series but had a 1.01 GAA and .957 SV over the final four. The Panthers became the seventh reigning Stanley Cup champions in the NHL’s expansion era (since 1967-68) to win a best-of-seven series after facing a 2-0 series deficit. In these playoffs, Florida has the second-best GAA at 2.42 goals against per game, is allowing the second-fewest shots (23.8 per game) and has the second-best penalty kill (89.5 per cent). The Panthers are the only remaining team that has won the Stanley Cup in the past 18 postseasons. Florida is 6-5 all-time in road Game 1s in a best-of-seven.
Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina is the only team in these playoffs unbeaten at home (5-0) and has been off since eliminating Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in five games last Thursday. Former Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen has dominated so far as he leads the playoffs in GAA (1.38) and SV (.937). He is facing an average of just 22.2 shots per game. Sebastian Aho (3G, 7A) and Seth Jarvis (4G, 6A) lead the Hurricanes with 10 points each this postseason. Carolina has reached the conference finals for the sixth time in franchise history and third time in the past six years. But the team has amazingly lost 12 straight games in this round with the last victory in 2006 vs. Buffalo when now-coach Rod Brind’Amour had the game-winning goal. Teams that win Game 1 of a best-of-seven series own an all-time series record of 534-250 (.681) in the playoffs, including 9-3 this year. The winner of Game 1 in a best-of-seven final four series holds an all-time series record of 114-54 (.679). The Hurricanes are 12-6 all-time in home Game 1s of a best-of-seven.
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